Snowshoeing holidays
Snowshoeing Blog
You can read about our snowshoeing adventures here!
7th February 2012
Michael's Wild Trail
This was the first visit this year as the avalanche risk has been high, but today the conditions were perfect if a little nippy at -17C we stopped at Les Cheverelle for a lovely lunch.
6th February 2012
Running through the snow
A snowshoe walk in the very wild Freterolle area with a quick run through the open fields of snow below Tete de Bostan and the Terre Maudite.
1st February 2012
First foray into Praz de Lys- Molly's Trail
Elaine had walked with me last year so we went over to Praz de Lys to check out a new route which I have named Molly's Trail after my mum. This is more of a rolling domain to exmplore in than a single walk and there is a lot more for us to discover here. Its also pretty easy on the legs and has some spectacular views.
29th January 2012
On arrive de Paris!
Emily, Jane, Francois and Eric had just arrived from Paris and loved the change of scene. There was no sun today but a white mist filled the valley threatening more snow. The build-up of snow is so great after one and a half months that half the landscape appears to have disappeared under a blanket of snow. Everywhere you looked you could see amazing sculptures in the snow.
25th January 2012
Snowshoe racing and a few forward rolls...
This snowshoe walk has to be one of our favourites as it offers a steady climb with lovely views and a descent through the forest far from the crowds following our own trail. For the more adventurous there are lots of opportunities for a bit of a race through the knee deep snow or a few forward rolls.
17th January 2012
Forrester's Trail
This was a family group and they wanted a good mountain walk so we followed the trail up to the hamlet at Freterolle which was buried in snow. The path through the forest was magical as there was so much snow and nobody else had been there.
5th January 2012
Methinks it looks like a weasel!
The snow was falling in big fluffy flakes all day and although the trail starts o a pisted track we soon had to plough though deep snow. We truly felt we were walking through a witer wonderland. We spotted a weasel in its winter coat playing around in the snow. It's rare to see animals in the middle of the day as many are nocturnal. The snow was so deep that on the way down we took our own route through the snow which was up to our knees. I decided it would be a good opportunity to demonstrate my forward roll technique and promptly disappeared under snow.
1st January 2012
A New Years Day Goat Trail!
We walked along the ridge to the Col de Joux Verte and called in for a coffee at the cafe on the col. We watched the huskies whisking some intrepid riders down the path towards Lindaret. Following the trail down to the Goat Village; a lovely mountain hamlet practically buried in snow at the moment, we stopped fo lunch as there are a number of excellent restaurants to choose from. We could not walk down the track today as the avalanche risk was too high so we followed the piste down which was quite exciting!
31st December 2011
A Lovely Warm Up
Although this walk is is fairly flat it never ceases to inspire me; the views are stunning and even despite being quite close to the piste you can escape into your own winter world. The walk can take 3 hours depending on where you go and constantly changes. It is a good warm up if you want to do a series of walks.
27th December 2011
Zore- Ardent with lunch stop at the Goat village
The walk starts at the top of Zore, having caught the gondola and chair it follows the ridge towards Avoriaz with spectacular views of mountains in all directions. It was very sunny and felt warm even though the icicles all around us suggested it was quite cold. We dropped down the side of the mountain towards Lindarets following our own trail through the very deep snow. It must have been 2 metres deep judging by the signpost buried in the snow. We had fun doing forward rolls down the steeper slopes (only fun if you remember to do up all of your pockets!) We then walked onto the Goat village, a pretty hamlet buried in snow but with some lovely restaurants, we sat in the sun eating our lunch then continued down the valley to Ardent.
26th December 2011
Manche Valley- Freterolles with Jen and Steve
The walk climbs steadily upwards through the forest emerging at the gold mines (that were!) with beautiful views down the Vallee de la Manche towards Morzine. This walk is away from the pistes although we do meet off-piste skiers from time to time. We then climbed up towards the pretty hamlet of Freterolles but did not quite make it as there had been a recent big avalanche so we took in the views and continued downwards towards the Chardonniere bridge. The river was stunning flowing between the big drifts of snow. We finished our walk with a very pleasant vin chaud at the very pretty Crappahutte.
26th December 2011
Hazel and Richard on Super Morzine
It was a beautiful sunny day the Alps at their best! We took the gondola up Super Morzine and followed the trail up to the cross on the col. The trail winds gently upwards with wonderful views the whole way, they get better as you climb upwards as you can see more and more. When you reach the col the view is breath taking.
24th December 2011
Mini Tour of Pleney
This group wanted a shortish circuit so we did a half circuit of Pleney which still took us in and out of the trees and away from everybody. The snow is glorious: squeaking under foot and away from the main paths impossible to walk on without snowshoes. It was very cold but the sun came out and we finished with a lovely warm drink at the mountain restaurant.
23rd December 2011
A misty start, deep snow and sunshine
This was the first walk of the season and as we arrived to thick mist on top of Pleney but it soon cleared with wonderful blue skies and the snow was deep and crisp and even! This is a fairly long walk about 3 hours but an easy level as it is mostly flat and we were sustained by Theo's wonderful rich 'adult' hot chocolate! It wonders around the summit of Pleney in and out of the trees and has wonderful views of Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets. Although it is close to the pistes it is easy to get away from them and find yourself in a snowy world of your own.
9th April 2011
Family Day Andy, Julia, June, Tom, Emily and Issie
It was Andy's birthday and he fancied a snowshoe walk for all the family with his wife Julia, mum June and 3 children, the youngest being Issie at 5 years. we chose the Lindarets walk as there is still plenty of snow. Much fun was had following our own windy trail through the forest, walking in deep snow, doing forward rolls and generally messing around. We then went for a wonderful birthday lunch at the Auberge Vanant.
7th April 2011
Andy and June- Little Canada
This is a gentle walk but away from the ski slopes so it is very tranquil. We walk upwards through lovely alpine forests following a stream which eventually opens out onto a high meadow hence the name 'Little Canada'
5th april 2011
Andy and June- Col de Joux Vert to Lidarets
We chose this walk as the snow is always reliable, there is a lot of descent but it is fairly gentle. We followed the path then disappeared into the forest to make our own trail, there are many wild animal prints to be seen including wild boar. they dig up the ground in search of truffles unfortunately they didn't leave us any!
1st April 2011
Rosy, Rhian, Indie and Boo the dog on Forester's Trail
We followed the Forester's Trail up to the summer farms and sat by some trees eating our lunch in the sun. Where the snow is melting alpine flowers are appearing in abundance. On one side of the mountain the snow is still very much in evidence and we walked through wide open snow fields which Boo enjoyed very much
25th March 2011
Jenny, Claire, Hirona, Pat, Peter, Gill and Marina on Super Morzine
The group fancied a gentle walk with great veiws so we walked the Super Morzine circuit up to the Col de Croix. The weather was glorious so we could see for miles, another lovely day.
30th March 2011
Rosy, Indie and Theo on Michael's Wild Trail
This is such a lovely walk. Far from the madding crowd. The spring is here and only parts of the walk required snowshoes but when we needed them we were glad we had them!
Where the snow had melted spring flowers began to show through. Snowdrops, white butterbur, cowslips and alpine croci were all in abundance.
We stopped at Les Chevrelles, a lovely traditional mountain restuarant, for a wonderful lunch then traversed the mountain back to the beginning of the walk.
27th March 2011
Rosy and Indie take a stroll to Little Canada
Rosy had just arrived and fancied an introductory walk so I choose Little Canada. This involves a steady climb into the montains following a trail through the forest. Where the snow had melted flowers were pushing through. Violets, snowdrops and cowslips and also one Rosy's mum, via the internet, identified as white butterbur. We then dropped down through snowy pastures to a lovely open river surrounded by trees hence 'Little Canada'
26th March 2011
Rob and Gill and Jenny walk up to Freterolles
Three rather fit individuals walked up to the Freterolles with me (one of whom competes professionally in Ironman competitions and one who has trained for one recently). Once again it was sunny and we had great fun larking about on the steep slopes near the cross at Chalets des Freterolles.
22nd March 2011
Vicky on Super Morzine
Another delightfully clear and sunny day on Super Morzine. Quite a classic Spring day in the Alps. We took the Super Morzine lift up and walked up the track and through the forest to the Croix des Combes before returning to the Grenouille de Marais restaurant for a well deserved hot chocolate.
10th March 2011
Paul, Jane, Tony and Nicola on Michael's Wild Trail
An incredible walk in blazing sunshine with some lovely people. We stopped at the Chevrelles restaurant at Mont Caly which was wonderful and has the most amazing views in the whole of the Portes du Soleil- including an awesome panorama of Mont Blanc.
4th March 2011
Family from Ride and Slide - Crapahute
A wonderful outing up the vallee de la Manche to the Crapahute restaurant for this family from Ride and Slide in Morzine.
We managed to get some really tiny snowshoes for this little boy who was only 3 and he refused to take them off, be carried or get dragged along in the sled. In fact he walked the whole way. All the kids had a great time and it just goes to show that snowshoeing really is easy to pick up and that anyone can do it. The age range of our snowshoers is now 79 years (our youngest being 3 and our oldest being 82!).
23rd February 2011
Paul, Anita, Nicola, Mathew and Richard - Col de Croix
We have had a wonderful fall of snow and it is now sunny and the air is so clear. We set off up the track taking many pictures along the way, there was nobody else around. The views in every direction were fantastically clear with hazy mists in the valleys. We then made our own route through the forest descending through deep powder back to the start of the route finishing with a wonderful hot chocolate on the balcony of the Grenouille du Marais.
21st February 2011
Jan from Petit Cheval Blanc on Super Morzine
We started off in glorious sunshine and deep new snow following the trail to the Col of the Cross then descended through deep powder through the forest finding our own route the forest, it was like entering Narnia. We were the only people around making our own tracks through virgin snow.
20th February 2011
Pleney Circuit with Jan from Petit Cheval Blanc
It has started snowing! Yippee! Everything turned back to a winter wonderland. We walked the Pleney circuit, enjoying treading through the deep powder between the trees, with snow whirling around us.
16th February 2011
Alison and Indie storm up to the Col de Coux!
Alison fancied a full day of walking so we set off up the valley de la Manche and walked the Freterolle circuit in record time. It was a beautiful day and the views from the refuge were wonderful, we descended back through the forest which winds its way down the mountain a truly wild walk. We then had some lunch and went up Super Morzine doing the Col de Croix circuit once again in record time!
15th February 2011
Alison, Rhona, Pam from Sugar Mountain go up Pleney
There is still plenty of snow on the trail but it is very crunchy! We walked through the forest but as the snow is thin here we climbed back steeply through the forest to gain the main trail which in itself was an adventure for the group! Snowshoes are truly amazing on snow, ice and even grass!
14th February 2011
Nicole and Steve from the Farmhouse on the Forester's Trail
The sun continues but there are some clouds building up. We walked up towards the mine of gold then turned off at the 3 ways junction and took the trail to the Chardonniere Refuge, we cut into the forest and made our own tracks through the trees. Following the stream back and finishing with a drink at the Crapahute.
12th February 2011
The Forester's Trail with Annie and Sue
Yet another lovely sunny day! We climbed up from 'lErigne in our snowshoes. The road was icy but the snowshoes prevailed and we walked across the ice as if it wasn't there. We continued up following the Forester's Trail with the sun filtering through the trees. Our high point of 1500m was reached then we descended along a narrow trail which cuts through the rocks and onto an open snowfield below the cliffs of the tete de Bostonne.
We descended down to the Chardonnier refuge refreshed ourselves with cold water from the spring and continued down to the Crapahute where hot chocolate enhanced with Grand Marnier was fratefully received.
11th February 2011
The Col de Coux with Jenny, Jerry and Ian
We climbed up through the the forests to the lac de mine de d'or, frozen and white in the sunshine. We kept climbing on our snowshoes up to the Chalets Freterolles where the views open up and which never cease to impress. The snowshoe trail steadily rises up the mountain through fields of snow for an hour and a half, the last section being quite steep. We were all rather warm by the time we reached the Col de Coux and could get our first look at the view into Switzerland. The views of les Dents Blanche were in front of us and Morzine, les Gets behind us.
We ate lunch on the col with the sun warming our backs then returned via te narrow forest trail. A lovely day.
10th February 2011
The Forester's Trail with Sheena, Carli, Tom and Theo
A great walk throught the forests up to the frozen lake at Lac de Mine d'Or then across towards the towering cliffs of Falaise de Maudit (the Damned Cliffs!).
The second half of the snowshoe trail is quite wild and drops through snow fields to the Chardonniere refuge finally descending to the bottom of the vallee de la manche.
8th February 2011
Sheena, Ian, Carli, Theo and Jamie do the Super Morzine to Ardent route
We caught the bubble to the top of the Super Morzine then the chairlift up Zore then walked along the ridge towards Avoriaz. The views are awesome and it was a very hot and sunny day. We then dropped down through the forest on our snowshoes to Lindaret leaving the main snowshoeing path and finding our own route through the deep powder between the trees.
Fun was had jumping off rocks and ledges and doing forward rolls down the steep snowy slopes (our walks aren't all that serious). We called in at the goat village for a coffee before descending down the Ardent valley taking in the spectacular views down towards Montriond.
16th January 2011
Heidi and Indie walk Michael's Wild Trail
The weather was very hot and sunny for January and there was still plenty of snow for snowshoeing. A wonderfully wild walk away from the pistes through the forest passing summer chalets locked away for the winter and great views of Roc d'Enfer, Mont Uble and Mont Blanc in the distance.
We climbed steeply up through the forest to the rewarding views of Mont Blanc from the Chevrelles restaurant where we sat outside in the blazing sunshine.
2nd January 2011
Sheila's family go for a night walk
Sheila, aged 82, and her family wanted to try something a little different so we donned headtorches in the dark and went for a night hike along the forester's trail stopping at restaurant La Yan-ne for vin chaud.
31st December 2010
Sheila's family walk to Chardonniere
Sheila and her family walked up the vallee de la Manche to the Chardonniere refuge. It was overcast but the snow was deep and fresh.
We stopped at the Crapahute for a coffee at the end of the walk.
29th December 2010
Sheila and Fiona on Pleney
Sheila and her daughter hiked the Pleney circuit on another beautiful sunny January day. Lots of photos were taken of the wonderful views and the deep snow.
26th December 2010
The Les Fleurs family on Super Morzine
Some of the best snow of the season fell over Christmas time and on boxing day the sun came out and we went for a walk up the Super Morzine ridge.
Sun, snow and great views from the Col de Croix. What more could we ask for?!
24th December 2010
Lac de Montriond reconnaissance
We decided to walk round the Montriond lake in the late afternoon to see what it would be like to use as an night walk to a restaurant as there is the lovely Bout de Lac restaurant at the end.
It was cold but the lake was looking resplendent in its coating of white and the snow between the trees was great fun to walk on in snowshoes.
22nd December 2010
Vallee de la Manche reconnaissance
We wanted another walk in the Vallee de la Manche to add to our itineraries and so created a circuit to the Chardonniere refuge via Chalets de Freterolle- a good 5/6 hour walk but without the strenuousness of the Col de Coux and with very dramatic scenes beneath the Terres Maudites cliffs.